Build real-time operational analytics with a filtered columnstore index, inspect batch-mode plans and rowgroups, and measure write costs.
Columnar, Graph and Spatial Databases: Three Shapes of Data
Columnar, Graph and Spatial Databases are three data models built for three kinds of questions: totals over many rows, paths through relationships, and distances between places. This post explains each one and builds all three in SQL Server 2025 with columnstore, graph tables and the geography type.
OLTP vs OLAP: Why Transactions and Analytics Need Different Designs
OLTP vs OLAP is the difference between recording what’s happening now and studying what’s already happened. This post compares the two designs, tests the same 500,000 orders as a rowstore and a columnstore table on SQL Server 2025, and shows how data moves from one side to the other.
Columnar File Formats: Why Parquet Changed Big Data
Columnar file formats store a table one column at a time, so a report reads and compresses only the columns it needs. This post compares rows and columns on a tiny table, explains how a Parquet file is laid out, and measures the size difference in SQL Server 2025.
SQL SERVER – Finding Size of a Columnstore Index Using DMVs
This script uses sys.indexes and sys.dm_db_partition_stats to list the size of a columnstore index on disk, along with its table name.
SQL SERVER – Columnstore Index and sys.dm_db_index_usage_stats
My Columnstore index DMV script failed on SQL Server 2012 RTM because sys.column_store_index_stats was gone. What I found next, with sys.dm_db_index_usage_stats.
Columnstore Indexes for Reporting Tables
Columnstore indexes for reporting tables can cut scan work, but clustered and nonclustered designs affect loading and point lookups differently.